The Office of Minority Affairs and the Black Cultural Center will celebrate Black History Month with several events hosted throughout February.
The Black History Month events will kick off with the Gospel Extravaganza Feb. 9. The musical event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the RUC. Trinity Baptist Church of Cookeville and TTU’s Omnicron Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will sponsor the event.
On Feb. 11 at noon, there will be a feature documentary called “Hidden Colors.” “Hidden Colors 2” will be shown the next week on Feb. 18. Both films will be shown in the Leona Lusk Officer BCC in room 258 in the RUC. This documentary discusses some of the reasons the contributions of African and aboriginal people have been left out of the pages of history. The critically acclaimed 2011 follow-up documentary is about the untold history of the African and aboriginal descent.
The final event is Feb. 24th at 7:30 p.m. in the Tech Pride Room of the RUC. Robert Avery will discuss his experiences as a teenager during the Civil Rights Movement listening to the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“I hope a lot of people come to the events,” said Corrine Johnson, administrative associate in the Office of Minority Affairs. “I want people to recognize those who went through these events before us and honor them and their sacrifices.”
Johnson said all but one of the events are open to the public and free of charge. The IMPACT Honors Banquet is a city-wide dinner that honors individuals who have impacted the community in a positive way. It will require a ticket for entry, and the cost is $25 a person or $40 a couple. The banquet will be held at the Leslie Town Centre at 5 p.m. on Feb. 23. The 2014 honorees are Shaquawana Wester, Rev. Earl Dirkson and the late Issac Bohannon.
Dr. Elizabeth Ojo, assistant director of Minority Affairs, said these broader cultural experiences help her in the multicultural work she does with students.
“I see it as a time to encourage diversity and the opportunity to share the good of all races and it’s not a time just for the black, but it’s a time to educate the public that there is strength in diversity,” Ojo said. “It’s a time to raise the conscious awareness of the contributions that the black race has made in the construction and maintenance of what is known today as America.”
For a more detailed list of events and information, visit www.tntech.edu/bcc/calendar or contact the Office of Minority Affairs at 931-372-3392
